A new consumer alert from web safety advisory body the Digital Citizens Alliance (DCA) urges Brazilian authorities and consumer safety organisations to warn citizens about the serious cyber security risks of relying on digital piracy sites to watch the 2024 Copa do Brasil finals. The October 2024 alert, Offsides: How Criminals Are Exploiting the Copa do Brasil to Spread Malware Via Piracy Sites, was created after a joint investigation between DCA, Unit 221B, and White Bullet Solutions found that piracy operators and other criminals are targeting events such as the Copa do Brasil to prey on Internet users who are enticed by the lure of seemingly free access to major events.

“Brazilian consumers should understand that ‘free’ content is rarely consequence-free,” advises Tom Galvin, executive director of the Digital Citizens Alliance (DCA). “Tens of millions of passionate Brazilian futebol fans will tune in using their computers and mobile devices to see who will win the final 2024 Copa do Brasil match in a few weeks, and many will use piracy sites to do so. Yet, once those viewers start watching the event, especially using mobile devices, they’ll be bombarded with ads. Many of those ads are specifically designed to spread malware.”

Unit 221B and White Bullet investigations for the Offsides alert, which reviewed advertising on over 500 piracy platforms focused on the Brazilian market, found that bad actors in Brazil are increasingly targeting mobile devices as a means of spreading malware. Dozens of instances of malware-ridden ads appeared on these piracy sites, ranging from mildly to highly malicious – including a virus-laden KMSpico file that enables criminals to spy on its victims, steal data, and even open a device to be used for crypto-mining without the knowledge of the user.

In early October 2024, Unit 221 investigators also specifically tested whether viewers who watched the Copa do Brasil semi-finals on piracy platforms would be subjected to misleading ads that are typically used to trick users into downloading malware. During the test, investigators were subjected to deceptive ads, such as those claiming the user’s device was already infected or ones that displayed a false video player, followed up by the claim that a user needed to sign up for an advertised VPN or utility to continue playing the video.

“Bad actors trick users through several tell-tale signs like these – either through scare tactics or the lure of something to make the fateful click that infects their device,” explains Galvin. “These criminals know the Copa do Brasil presents a target-rich opportunity for piracy operators and the criminals they do business with to target viewers. Unfortunately, research shows that Brazilian visitors to piracy sites are nearly five times more likely to have experienced an issue with their digital security in the last year compared to viewers who don’t visit these sites.”

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Categories: Articles, Business, Content, Piracy, Policy, Regulation

Tags: Copa do Brazil, Digital Citizens Alliance, malware, piracy